Apparatus for raising liquids



(No Model.)

F. H. MERRILL. APPARATUS PoR RAISING LIQUIDS.

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FRANK H. MERRILL, OF BOUND BROOK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE` MERRILL MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF NEW JERSEY.

APPARATUS FOR RAlS-ING LIQUIDS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 538,227, dated January 29, 1895. Application filed October 8, 1891. Renewed October 17,1894. Serial No. 526,219. (No model.)

To cir/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK H. MERRILL, of

` Bound Brook, in the State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Raising Liquids, of which the following is a speciiication.

In an application tiled by me July 13, 1891, Serial No. 399,287, I have described a water raising apparatus operated by compressed air acting alternately on the water in two compartments in which apparatus the valve controlling the How of the compressed air to said compartments respectively, was of such construction as to require a packing having a sliding contact, and in the hands of nnskilled persons by whom this apparatus is` expressly intendwed to be used, I have found considerable difficulty from the leakage of the air by the packing due to changes in the condition thereof.

One object of my present invention is to obviate the above difculty by so reconstructing the apparatus as to enable the use of valves having a fixed contact. Another oblect is, to overcome any possibility of the apparatus ever becoming inoperative by reason of centeringfitself. Other advantages will appear from the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a sectional elevation of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is a similar section of the upper portion thereof and showing the valves in the opposite position. Fig. 3 is a cross section of the same on the line of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the upper portion of the same on the line y y of Fig. 2.

a a are the two water compartments provided with valved water inlet openings a2 and a3 and with valved water outlet openings a4 and a5 leading to a water delivery pipe b.

c c are pipes with upwardly opening valves at the bottom leading from near the bottom of the two compartments respectively, to a pipe c2 with which they both connect and which connects with a chamber d near its top; said chamber having an opening d at the bottom leading into the water deliverypipe b. At the top of this chamber d is a Valve opening provided with the downwardly operating valve e and this opening connects with the bottom of a cylinder f. The valve e is mounted upon a lever g upon the extremity of which is supported the float h, and from the bottom of this float depends a valve t' adapted to nearly, but not entirely, close the opening d upon the descent ot' the' float; the valve ebeing closed by the ascent of the float.

.7' is a piston operating vertically within the cylinderf. lo is a weight connected with the piston in any suitable manner and moving with it within the cylinderf. The hole 7o is cast centrally in Weight lo into which extends a .pin 7a2 fixed to the end of the cylinder.

. k3 is a brass bushing driven into the hole lo and bearing against the pin 7a2 so that the pin serves as a tixed guide for the piston and Weight in their vertical movements.

j is a Babbitt metal lining for the interior of the cylinder forming a bearing for the piston throughout its whole stroke.

7a4 is a pin projecting downward through the end of the cylinder and xed to the weight Zt. The hole in the cylinder' end through which this pin projects is lined bya brass bushing 705 the caliber of which is sufficiently larger than the pin o* to allow avery small annular space around the pin through which air may escape very slowly from the cylinder j", and which is kept free from clogging by the vertical motions of the pin.

Z is a link pivoted to the top of the piston j and having at its upper end a laterally extending pin Z which projects into theslot m of the rockerm. This rocker is provided centrally above the slot m with a sleeve m2 pivoted on the fixed bar n, said bar being supported at both ends by the castings n' and n4. The slot m is extended vertically at each end at m3 and m4. To the sleeve m2 is connected an arm n3 bearing at its extremity the weight n2 which may beadj usted on the arm. This arm is so arranged that when the rocker fm is in a horizontal position the arm will be vertical and when the rocker is inclined to the horizontal the arm will be correspondingly inclined to the vertical. Therefore, the tendency of the weight to fall either to one side or the other of the vertical line will prevent the rocker from ever being centered on the horizontal.

n is a shell or casting inclosing the rocker on three sides and at the top and this shell is ICO proyided at the top with two openings o and o through which project downwardly, the valve stems o2 and o3 in such position that these valve stems will be alternately raised and dropped by impinging against the rocker m as the latter rocks. On the top of these valve stems respectively, are fixed the valves p and p' each of which is provided with a vertical valve chamber in the casting q. The body of each valve is of less diameter than the chamber in which it is located and is provided with four radially projecting wings p2 which serve to center the valve within the chamber. At the bottom of its body and below the wings, each valve is provided with a liange p3. The two valve cylinders are formed by two cylindrical openings through the casting q, which casting is secured to the top of the shell n or casting with a leather packing o" interposed between and extending to the edge of the openingso and o. On top of the casting q is a dome shaped casting s provided with the main compressed air supply opening s and the two branches s2 and 35 leading therefrom to the valve chambers of the valves p p respectively.

i" is a leather packing interposed between the castings s and q and extending out to the edges of the passages s2 and s3 respectively.

t is a bead or lip extending upwardly all around the edge of the body of each valve. t is a corresponding bead or lip extending downwardly all around the edge of each of the flanges p3. When either of the valves is up its lip tembedsitself into the leather packing r around the compressed air opening into its Valve chamber and thus effectually closes that opening against the passage of air. Whenever either valve is down, its lip t embeds itself in the packing fr around the opening o or o', as the case may be, and effectually closes that opening against the escape of air. The valve chambers connect at their sides through openings in the casting q respectively with the pipes u and u leadin'g to the tops of the chambers aand a respectively.

The operation is as follows: The compartments a and a are submerged in water the level of which may be represented at v. Fig. 1 shows the compressed air entering through the pipe s and the passage s2, passing around the valvep and through the pipe u into the compartment a where it is in the act of forcing the water out through the delivery pipe b. At the same time, the valvep being raised, any compressed air contained in compartment a has been allowed to escape through the pipe u and under the valve p into the shell a or casting, one side of which is open. Therefore, the Valve in theopening a3 has risen and the water has entered to ll the compartment a. As soon as the compressed air from the pipe u has forced the water in the compartment o. below the bottom of the pipe c, the compressed air will pass up through the pipe c into the chamber d where it will find the floath buoyed up, as shown, by the water contained in that chamber. The entrance of the compressed air into the chamber d drives the water therefrom into the water delivery pipe through the opening d until the float falls sufficiently to open the valve e when the compressed air will pass upward into the cylinderf, force the piston]l upward so as to lift the pin Z into the notch m3 and tilt the rocker from the position shown in Fig. l to the position shown in Fig. 2. This also will reverse the position of the valves so that the compartment a will communicate with the open air through the pipe u and the opening o while the compressed air will be turned on to the compartment a through the opening s3 and the pipe u. Then the valve of opening a2 will open and permit new water to fill the compartment a while the valve of opening a3 will close and the Water therefrom will be forced into the pipe b and the chamber (l, through the openings a and the pipe c', filling the chamber d with water and lifting the float h so as to close the valve c. As soon as the valve e is closed, the weight k will cause the pistonj to descend and the pint will run down to the other end of the slot m', as shown in Fig. 2, the air below the piston gradually escaping around the pin 704. As soon as the water in the compartment ct' has been forced down below the bottom of the pipe c', compressed air will enter the chamber d through the pipe c', force the Water from said chamber causing the float to fall and the valve e to open. Then the compressed air will pass int'o the cylinder f and force the piston upward again; but now,

the pin Z being at the opposite end of the slot, it will be forced upward into the notch m4 and will consequently tilt the rocker from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the position shown in Fig. 1 resulting in the return of all the parts to their positions shown in Fig. l. The diameter of the lip or bead t is less than the diameter of the lip or bead t on each valve so that compressed air finds a greater area of surface for holding either of the valves down than it does for forcing the other Valve down when occupying its upward seat and vice versa. The power therefore exerted by the lever weight n2 need only be just sufficient to hold either valve against its upper seat; and consequently, when the rocker first starts to tilt in either direction, only a slight power is necessary to start it, which represents the slight excess of power exerted by the lever weight n2 to hold the valve up over the power exerted by the compressed air to force the valve down. By the time the rocker in tilting strikes the stem of the other valve and is called upon to exert suicient force for unseating it, the parts will have acquired such momentum and the weight 11.2 will have approached so near to the vertical line that the unseating of the valve is insured.,

The excess in diameter of the lip t over the lipt insures that each valve shall have a tend= ency to occupy its lower seat in preference to the upper one excepting when held up by the IOO IIO

action ofthe rocker under the influence either of the weight 'n2 or the piston j.

I claiml. In a liquid raising apparatus in combination, two primary liquid compartments provided with inlet liquid and gas passages, a supplementary liquid compartment, a motor therein, passages connecting the supplemen tary compartment with each of the primary compartments, a gas supply pipe, a branch gas supply pipe leading therefrom to each primary compartment, a valve chamber interposed between the supply pipe and each branch, each chamber having an inlet opening at the end and an outlet opening at the side, a valve in each chamber adapted to close the end opening and means controlled by the motor whereby said valves are alternately thrust against the end opening, substantially as described.

2. In a liquid raising apparatus in combination, two primary liquid compartments pro- Videdwith inlet liquid and gas passages, a supplementary liquid compartment, a motor therein, passages connecting the supplementary compartment with each of the primary compartments, a gas supply pipe, a branch gas supply pipe leading therefrom to each primary compartment, a valve chamber interposed between the supply pipe and each branch, each chamber having an inlet opening at the end and outlet openings at the side and opposite end, a valve in each chamber adapted to close the end openings and means controlled by the motor whereby said Valves are alternately thrust against one end opening and allowed to return against the opposite end opening, substantially as described.

3. In a liquid raising apparatus in combination, two primary liquid compartments provided with inlet liquid and gas passages, a supplementary liquid compartment, a motor therein, passages connecting the supplementary compartment with each of the primary compartments, a gas supply pipe, a branch gas supply pipe leading therefrom to each primary compartment, a Valve chamber interposed between the supply pipe and each branch, each chamber having an inlet opening at the end and outlet openings at the side and opposite end, a valve in each chamber adapted to close the end openings and means controlled by the motor whereby the said valves are alternately thrust against one end opening and allowed to return against the opposite end opening; said lvalves being constructed to make a greater diameter of contact around the outlet end opening than around the inlet opening, substantially as described.

4. In combination the casting containing the valve chambers, the casting constituting one head of the valve chambers and containing the inlet openings, and the plate constituting theopposite head and containing outlet openings, substantially as described.

FRANK H. MERRILL.

Witnesses:

J. E. GREER, FRED S. KEMPER. 

